photo by Eric Hanson
Oryon Hart (49), of Craftsbury, skis to 3rd place in eighth-grade race.
CRAFTSBURY – Both experienced and novices had their chance to try shooting and skiing at a low-key biathlon event at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center in mid-February.
Some people had never shot a .22 rifle while others have been attending practices two to three times each week to learn the nuances of the biathlon event. This was a chance for these latter skiers to put together what they had been learning.
Over 120 people took part in the event. Former U.S. Biathlon team member and World Championship silver medalist, Susan Dunklee, is now on staff at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center and has been a major part of the growth of the sport in the region. Both winter and summer programming at the Outdoor Center and at the Ethan Allen Biathlon range in Jericho have community programs.
For the youngsters who have some experience, they skied in the experienced division.
In the girls’ race, local skiers included Adele Pritchard in 2nd with 9 misses (of 20), Aemilia Terrone 3 (6 misses), Lillian Sudaby 4th, Amalie Pratt 5, Hazel Morton 7, Stella Schuren 8, and Josephine Marshall 9.
Boys’ experienced skiers included Bowman Suddaby 4th (8 missed), Hollis Allen 7th, and Elliott Stewart 9. In the womens’ experienced, Tillie Lange placed 3rd despite 16 misses and Clare Pritchard was 7th. Max Demaine was 5th (with 15 misses) and Zeb Whitlock 7th in the mens’ experienced race.
photo by Eric Hanson
Eliza Bunten (11), from Hardwick, skis in the Vermont Middle School Championships.
For these races, skiers had to shoot at a silver dollar-sized target in the prone (lying down) position and a 4-5 inch wide target for the standing stage.
In the girls’ novice race, Ava Stratman placed 2nd (5 missed), Eliza Bunten 3, Theodore Veve 6, and Stella Cussack 7. In the boys’ novice event, Magnus Hayden was 3rd (10 misses), Silas Stratman 4 (5 misses), David Stevenson 5, Arlo Jackson 13, and Linden Fox 16. In the women’s novice division, Mae Searles placed 5th (1 miss), Ava Purdy 8, and Anya Suddaby 12. Sisu Lange placed 1st in the mens’ novice race (3 misses), Maxfield English 2 (1 miss), Lar Searles 3 (3 misses), Hugh Tower-Pierce 4, Kevin Stevenson 9, and Victor Veve 21. For novices, skiers only had to hit the larger targets.
Vermont Middle School Championships
CRAFTSBURY – Nearly 160 middle school skiers from over 15 schools from Bennington to Burlington and Woodstock to St. Johnsbury tested their skiing skills over a 2.5 km course this past week at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center.
Mount Mansfield Union took home team honors followed by Stowe and Fred H. Tuttle Middle School (South Burlington).
Craftsbury Academy (CA) kids skiers placed 12th. In the grade 5 race, Silas Stratman (Peoples Academy) had the fastest time in 7:52.
photo by Eric Hanson
Stella Cusack (63), of Craftsbury, at the start of the 2.5 km freestyle race.
For the 6th graders, Peoples Academy’s Bowman Suddaby finished 1st with Hollis Allen (CA) in 3rd.
There were 65 starters in the 7th grade race with Sylas Weaver (FHTMS) skiing to first in 6:12 and Isaac Nadzam (U-32) in 2nd only one second back. Jin Ramsay (All Saints Christian Academy) placed 14 in 7:17, James Reynolds 35th (CA), and Stella Cusack 45 (CA).
For the 8th grade crew, Brooke Greenberg (Harwood) skied the course in 5:58 followed by James Langan (FHTMS 6:02), CA’s Oryon Hart 3rd (6:08), and Stig Linck 23rd (CA).
Final Eastern Cup Race
HOLDERNESS, N.H. – The final two of eight Eastern Cup races were held at Holderness School this past weekend.
Amelia Circosta (Craftsbury Ski Club – CSC) had a pair of 4th place finishes in the freestyle sprint and 10 km classic race, and Anika Leahy (CSC) finished 9th and 14th in the two races. Sage Grossi (CSC) topped the local skiers with 3rd place in the sprint race.
Charlie Kehler finally entered some races this season coming back from a stress fracture toward the end of the running season last fall.
After four weekends of racing with eight races since December, rankings for all the Northeast junior skiers were set, determining who would represent the NE at Junior Nationals (JNs) in March. CSC skiers were well represented in the mix with Sage Grossi ranked 7th (JN qualifier) and Sisu Lange 36th in the Under 18/Under 20 (U18/U20) group, along with Samuel Brondyke 50, Luke Murphy 71, Zeb Whitlock 92.
In the U16 girls division, Tillie Lange was ranked 13, Katherine Mackenzie 25, and Nora Demaine 48. Within the U18/U20 women, Amelia Circosta auto qualified for JNs with other races and Ruth Krebs will make her first appearance at JNs with her 4th place ranking. Anika Leahy is very close to qualifying with her 16th ranking. The final list of who is attending JNs was not available at press time.
Other CSC skiers included Isabel Linton 25th and Emily Linton 28th out of 114 racers.
